FRANKLIN — Ross reigns supreme as the only undefeated Butler County high school girls basketball team.
And the Rams are continually improving, too.
Lanie Lipps scored a game-high 20 points, Carmen Bosse added 18 and Ross cruised by host Franklin 64-34 for a Southwestern Buckeye League Southwestern Division victory on Thursday night.
“I don’t want to be playing at our best right now. All we’re worried about is getting better each game,” Ross fifth-year coach Ben Buehner said. “That’s the main thing. The girls are having fun, and they’re playing together. We’re just going to keep doing that.”
The Rams (3-0, 2-0 SWBL) — who have matched their best start when they went 3-0 at the beginning of the 2012-2013 season — moved out to a 15-10 first-quarter lead and took a 29-16 advantage into the half.
Ross then went on a 10-2 run to begin the third quarter to make it 39-18. Lipps scored 10 of her points and connected on 6 of 6 free throws, while Myah Boze bucketed nine of her 11 points to help Ross outscore Franklin 22-6 in the period.
The Wildcats never clawed their way back.
“Our defense has been a lot better,” said Lipps, a junior guard who put up a career-high 29 points in a 60-49 win over Edgewood last Saturday. “Our offensive decisions and our shots that we take are getting better.
“For us, we like to push the ball. Most of the time we’re practicing pushing the ball and making sure we hit our layups and our shots. That’s just our game.”
Senior Addie Berry had 14 points to pace Franklin, which is led by second-year coach Matt Abshear.
The Wildcats (2-3, 1-3 SWBL) won their first two games of the season and have since lost three straight.
“We are trying to grow the program,” Abshear said. “Last year, we had five wins in my first year. Now, it’s trying to improve upon that. We have more numbers in our program this year, but we just don’t have much depth or size from the varsity standpoint.
“What we wanted to see tonight was some of the things that we can do well,” Abshear added. “There were times that we were patient with it, and we were able to do some things with the ball. When we got outside of ourselves, that’s when we got lost in their transition. But our kids did not quit. This was the most that I’ve seen our girls getting on the floor after loose balls. So when you’re trying to build a culture, those are the little things that matter.”
Ross now owns a three-game winning streak against Franklin. They’ll next play at Ross on Jan. 25.
“We’re preparing to win each game,” Buehner said. “These girls have put in so much time and effort into their skills with ball-handling and shooting during the offseason that I want them to trust that.
“We’re making better decisions when we shoot the ball. That’s all we’ve been focusing on is making the right decisions on offense and defense — and let their skills shine.”
PUTTING UP POINTS
Buehner said he’s impressed with his team’s transition offense and shot selection in the early going this campaign.
The Rams are scoring an average of 56.3 points a game — the most since putting up 47.8 points a contest during the 2014-2015 season.
“We’re doing a lot of scoring — when that’s typically been a struggle for us,” Buehner noted. “We have high expectations for them. We know it’s there. We’re going to hold them to that kind of standard.”
IN THE KNOW
Lipps averaged a conference second-best 21.5 points a game and dished out a third-best four assists a contest before Thursday’s game. … Franklin’s Kensie Black and Berry led the SWBL each with 4.5 steals a game heading into Thursday. Black is fourth in the league with 8.5 rebounds per game.
UP NEXT
Ross hosts Talawanda at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9. … Franklin is at the beginning of a six-game homestand and doesn’t have an away game until after the new year. The Wildcats host Miamisburg on Monday, Dec. 11.
